DAVE HARDY
Transformative Leadership / Brand Strategy / Creative Direction

Steal These Ideas

Being bold isn’t easy. If it were, we’d see the evidence of it among the many and not the few. As a student of brand and creative strategy, I see the product of the connection between our fears and our tendency to embrace mediocrity. With 25 years building brands and teams in the agency space, I want to explore ways to see challenges as opportunities and to discover how to harness what holds us back.

Use the D.A.R.E Model to Assess the Strength of Your Brand

When you are developing your brand’s story, how do you know if it’s powerful enough? This isn’t something you get multiple shots at, and there are major implications for the long-term viability of the company if the position, story, or culture is mediocre.

One of the lenses I use to assess brand narratives is the D.A.R.E model: Different, Authentic, Relevant, and Evocative. Your brand needs to succeed in each of these areas for it to be considered strong.

Different
A truly unique position not only gives you a strong story to tell to generate interest in the short term but also enables you to hold a position and create enduring, long-term strength and confidence. The more radical the differentiation, the more protected you are because truly unique innovation can’t be copied. Using methods such as the Brand Ladder, you can determine your competition’s position and ensure you are intentional about positioning yourself well.

Authentic
You can’t commit to an idea and not deliver it. The value you offer on the outside needs to match the reality on the inside. Today, people demand more transparency from the brands they interact with. They want to ensure that their values match the values within an organization. Brand and culture are two sides of the same coin, and if they do not align, you have an inauthentic brand.

Relevant
Right message, right person, right time. If you do not understand who you are talking to, how can you deliver poignant messaging? For many brands, this is where the story starts. By identifying a group of like-minded, passionate people, you can build a following that will endure and create long-term success.

Evocative
The narrative needs to elicit an emotion. Through emotion, you create connection. With a connection, you create meaningful relationships. This often gets confused with being controversial, but that is not the idea, although I would always encourage any level of disruption that could cause a reaction.

If you objectively use this lens to look at your brand, how many of these areas would it succeed in and fail at? For me, the most successful brands need to achieve all four.

Brand StrategyDave Hardy